Calgary Stamps BC’s Grey Cup Hopes

The Calgary Stampeders advanced to the Grey Cup for the first time since 2001 with a 22-18 home win over the B.C. Lions in the Western Final played on Saturday.

Calgary will play the host to the Montreal Alouettes on November 23. Montreal made it to the final by beating the Eskimos 36-26 in the East Semi.

The Stampeder defense was able to hold the Lions to 6 field goals and no touchdowns. They held the Lions off at the goal line as well.

Finishing with the best record in the CFL at 13-5, the Stampeders were the favourites coming in, but were under a lot of scrutiny, as critics were skeptical that they could win under pressure since their last post-season win came in the 2001 Grey Cup.

The Lions were third in the Division finishing with an 11-7 record and upsetting the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the semifinal.

Calgary’s quarterback outplayed B.C’s and that was probably the key in the victory. Henry Burris threw for 236 yards and 1 touchdown. He also ran the ball in for another.

The Lions played a very solid game, especially in the first half, and their defense was exceptional, but they were not able to muster one touchdown, and that was crucial in this game. They did hold the lead for 3 quarters though, but at 3:42 of the final frame Burris gave the Stamps a 22-15 lead when he punched the ball in from B.C.’s one-yard line.

The Lions were not able to build on the 12-9 halftime lead. I think that they were probably a little dejected by not being able to come out of the first half with a bigger lead, despite having dominated the Stampeders on both sides of the ball. The Lions had held the league’s number 2 offence to under 60 yards and just three first downs until Burris was able to find Ken-yon Rambo for a 22 yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left in quarter number two. Time of possession for the Leos was 20:01 in the first half versus 9:59 for Calgary.

The Grey Cup is next Sunday in Montreal with the pre-game show starting at 12 PST.